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Telecom giant, TeliaSonera subsidiary in Tadzhikistan accused of censorship
Tuesday, 14 August 2012
The Swedish - Finnish telecom giant TeliaSonera is again under fire.
Their subsidiaries in Tadzhikistan (Tajikistan) is reported to have
participated in a censorship by blocking news portals on behalf of the
regime in the country.
Radio Sweden as well as the Finnish news organisation, Yle, report
that Tcell, a subsidiary of the Swedish-Finnish tele-operator,
TeliaSonera is said to have blocked the free and independent exchange
of information in the central Asian state
According to the Tadzhikistani activist Nuriddin Karsibojev, Tcell
helped the government censor the movement of information in the country.
In an interview with the Swedish broadcaster Radio Sweden,
Karsibojev, who heads the Independent media organisation -- said
that Tcell shut down news portals at the government’s behest.
The
organisation said that some 15 online newspapers or services such as
the BBC and YouTube have suffered from the government blackout since
March.
The activists have criticised Tcell and other tele-operators for bowing to the government’s demands.
The major Russian news agencies Ria and Lenta were also inaccessible,
as well as television channel Vesti, regional independent news agency
Ferghana and the leading Tajik news portal news.tj.
Tajikistan
The organization Reporters Without Borders is critical of TeliaSonera's
behavior and react to the lack of freedom of the press in Tajikistan.
Especially over the west-owned companies following the instructions of
censorship which are given without a court order.
"When receiving such a request, they should wait for a court order and
refer to the international agreements Tajikistan signed," says Johann
Bihr, European head of Reporters Without Borders to radio Sweden
Tcell currently serves roughly two million customers in Tadzhikistan and is the largest provider in the local market.
Last year TeliaSonera’s Eurasian operations contributed more than one billion euros to the groups’ turnover.
TeliaSonera has also been condemned in Sweden for its cooperation with dictatorial governments.
In its defense the company has said that it must abide by local laws and regulations.
by Scancomark.se Team
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